Haith's Players Have Faith

COLUMBIA -- Phil Pressey described Mizzou's 63-60 win against Florida in one word, "I'd say believe. I mean you always got to believe you can win. Whether you are up 12 or down 12."

The Tigers were down by 13 points with less than 11 minutes to play, but Frank Haith's squad used patience to gain ground on the No. 5 Gators.

The come from behind victory along with his team's resiliency impressed the head coach, "when you get down 13 there's not a 13 point shot and I thought our guys did a great job of understanding that and focus on getting stops on the defensive end and really just executing down the stretch offensively," Haith said.

Haith's junior guard led the way with seven points, 10 assists, and three steals even impressing Florida head coach Billy Donovan.

"The guy I was really, really impressed with was Pressey. I thought he was at our place, crazy when he played. I thought he really did a terrific job of running his team," Donovan said following the loss.

Pressey may have impressed Donovan, but he was more impressed with his teammate, Laurence Bowers. "Other than Laurence, nobody really played big. It was four points here, six points there," Pressey said. "A couple rebounds there. Somebody had a couple steals."

Bowers had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his first since the Illinois game. He also played the final five minutes of the game with four fouls.

"Just playing with four fouls you just gotta play smart," Bowers said. "You can't play thinking about four fouls because that's when you'll get you're fifth foul. I just tried to live in the moment."

Haith had nothing but the best to say about Donovan's team saying, "Florida is a tremendous team. I think they are one of the best teams in the country if not the best team in the country," Haith said. "I think this is a heck of a win four us."

Ultimately, Pressey felt that the team came together after a slow 20-9 start, "A team win like this. I really think this is a big win. Everybody contributed and everybody played well," Pressey said.

On a night when Coach Haith received his notice of allegation from the NCAA, Mizzou served notice it's a team to reckon with in the SEC. The Tigers get their biggest win of the season knocking off No. 5 Florida.